Strikethrough Text Generator

Why strikethrough looks slightly different across devices

The Unicode standard defines the character but not the exact vertical pixel position of the line. That position is determined by each device's font rendering engine. On most modern system fonts — San Francisco on iOS, Roboto on Android, Segoe UI on Windows — the line sits close to center and the difference is barely visible. On some older or custom fonts, the offset can look noticeably high or low. This is a combining character property, not a tool limitation. It is also the precise reason that Discord's native ~~tilde~~ syntax renders more cleanly on Discord than Unicode U+0336 does for message text: Discord applies tilde strikethrough at the application formatting layer using its own font metrics, not a Unicode combining character with a fixed offset.

When to use slash (U+0337)

The diagonal slash gives a different visual feel — closer to an X or a rejection mark than an editorial correction. Common in gaming usernames and creative bios where the "forbidden" or "invalid" aesthetic is deliberate rather than editorial.

Underline and decorative variants

Underline (U+0332) fills the gap on platforms where underline is not a native text option. Wave and dotted variants are primarily decorative and have lower compatibility on older fonts and devices. If you are looking to fit more text into your bios, a small text generator is a more space-efficient choice. Use them for short words where a plain-text fallback is acceptable.

Mobile paste mechanic

On iOS and Android, tap and hold inside the bio or caption field until the Paste menu appears, then tap Paste. The standard keyboard paste shortcut does not work reliably inside Instagram's input fields on all devices. If your strikethrough text pastes as plain characters with visible symbols between letters, the combining marks may have been stripped — try a shorter text string and paste again.

Can I use strikethrough in my Instagram username?

No. Instagram @handles follow strict character rules that only allow lowercase letters, numbers, periods, and underscores. Unicode combining characters are blocked in the username field specifically. Strikethrough works in bios, captions, comments, and story text overlays. The @handle field does not accept it.

Does strikethrough affect Instagram search visibility?

Instagram's internal search indexes plain text more reliably than text with combining characters layered on top. Keep searchable keywords in your bio in plain text. If you want to customize other parts of your profile, you can use aesthetic fonts to make it stand out. Use strikethrough for crossed-out old info, humor lines, or decorative formatting, not for the terms you want people to find you by.

Sarcasm and humor posts

The "what I meant to say" pattern is one of the most common uses of strikethrough on social media. Type the polite or official-sounding version, strike it out, follow it with the honest version: "I'm fine t̶o̶t̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶e̶x̶h̶a̶u̶s̶t̶e̶d̶." It reads both versions simultaneously. Widely used on Twitter threads, Reddit comments, Discord messages, and Instagram captions.

Visible corrections and updates

Showing what changed rather than silently deleting it: "The event starts at 7pm 8pm." Used by journalists, bloggers, and anyone who wants to be transparent about an edit. Combining strikethrough with a correction shows both the mistake and the fix, which reads as more honest than a quiet change.

Font-dependent line position

U+0336 has a fixed vertical offset that varies by font. On most modern system fonts the position looks correct. On older or custom fonts the line can sit too high or too low. This is a Unicode specification behavior, not a tool error. If it looks off on a specific platform, try switching to the slash variant (U+0337) which has a different vertical position.

CJK characters and emoji

Unicode combining characters work best with standard Latin letters and digits. Wide CJK characters (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) and emoji have different character widths that cause the combining line to appear misaligned or incomplete. Apply strikethrough only to text portions of a bio or caption, not to emoji themselves.

How to remove strikethrough you already copied

Delete the whole word and retype it, then regenerate only the parts that should remain crossed out. Do not try to delete just the combining mark by itself. On most text editors, the combining character (U+0336) is invisible and deletes differently from a normal character — the base letter and combining mark must be deleted together for reliable editing.

Not a font

Strikethrough text from this generator is not a font file and nothing gets downloaded to your device. The strikethrough effect comes from Unicode combining characters — invisible characters inserted between each letter that the font rendering engine draws as a horizontal line. This is different from CSS text-decoration: line-through, which is a styling instruction that only works in web contexts.